Top 9 languages in the world in 2013

9

German

Germany

More than 78 million people all over the world speak German. It is the official language of Germany of course, but it is also the official language of Austria, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. German is also one of Belgium’s three official languages, one of Switzerland’s four official languages.

8

Japanese

Japan

Japanese is spoken by 122 million people around the world. The official language of Japan, Japanese is also widely spoken in Korea, the United States, and several countries in Europe. It is also one of the official languages of Palau.

7

Russian

Russia

More than 170 million people in the world speak Russian, which is the official language of Russia. Of this number, the majority are residents of Russia. The language is also widely spoken in Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. The alphabet in which Russian is written is called Cyrillic.

6

Bengali

Bengali

Bengali is spoken by 190million people around the world. It developed from various Indo-Aryan languages, a lineage it shares with Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. It is the official language of Bangladesh, where most of its native speakers are from. Bengali is also spoken by many people in Indian West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and many countries in Europe.

5

Portuguese

Portuguese

Portuguese is spoken by 200 million people around the world. One of many languages that developed directly from Latin, Portuguese is mostly spoken in Portugal and Brazil, where is it the official language. Other countries in which Portuguese is the official language is Angola and Cape Verde. It is also the official language in East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe.

4

Hindi-Urdu

Pak India

Hindi-Urdu is spoken by 260 million around the world. The language developed from various Indo-Aryan languages, a characteristic it shares with Bengali. There are actually two official variants of Hindi-Urdu: Standard Hindi and Standard Urdu, both of which are virtually indistinguishable from the other.

3

English

English

English is spoken by 335 million around the world. It developed from various languages including West Germanic and Anglo-Saxon languages. The development of English was also heavily influenced by Latin and French. It is the official language of no less than 53 countries.

2

Spanish

Spanish

Spanish is spoken by 415 million around the world. More than 20 countries have Spanish as its official language, including almost every country in Latin America. The language is also widely spoken in the United States, especially in the southwest.

1

Mandarin

China

Mandarin is spoken by 850 million around the world. Although often referred to simply as “Chinese”, it is only one of several different Chinese languages. 

For more information, visit wikipedia.